Pages

Friday, 16 April 2010

It has now been discovered that eating fibre can boost your immune system. Below is a brief extract from the ABC's Catalyst program which explains how:

"Kendle Maslowski
"Once insoluble fibre reaches the large intestines, the bacteria in the gut there use it as a food source and they ferment it, and this produces by-products called short chain fatty acids.

"NARRATION
"These short chain fatty acids bind to a receptor on immune cells. This binding instructs immune cells to dampen down inflammation.

"Kendle Maslowski
"This research is new and exciting because for the first time we've shown a direct link between fibre, bacteria in our gut and control of our immune system.

"Professor Charles MacKay
"The connection between diet and the immune system was somewhat of a fringe topic in immunology. Now we have this molecular link because a breakdown of fibre, so-called short chain fatty acids actually directly stimulate our immune cells and relate to arthritis, asthma, inflammatory bowel disease and other things."